Lady Trailblazer

Thanks to her great aunt, Carol attended one of the rare co-educational colleges in the USA - Swarthmore College, in Philadelphia. Founded by Quakers, Swarthmore was renowned for its excellent standard of education and for encouraging women’s education and employment in a wide range of fields previously reserved for men. After graduating with honours and Phi Beta Kappa, Carol, was encouraged and supported by her college to find a job in a bank on Wall Street in the field she was most interested in – finance.

The task was not easy since, at the time, it was almost unheard of for a woman to work on Wall Street, where all positions, including secretarial, were held by men. However, thanks to her deep conviction and constant perseverance, Carol managed to find an employer who believed in her and was ready to give her a chance. Over the following years, she worked for prestigious banks and investment companies including US Trust, and The Bank of New York .

She started at the bottom, as a trainee, not concerned about salary but with a focus on where she wanted to go, ignoring all the obstacles on her way. She rapidly climbed the professional ladder and became a portfolio manager and investment analyst, and then vice president of U.S, Trust handling portfolios.

Although many of her male colleagues supported her, others were shocked to see a woman holding a management position. Clients were sometimes also reticent to deal with a woman, and, ironically, one of her main challenges was to convince other women that a woman was capable of handling their finances.

After some 20 years, and with a solid overall experience in finance and banking, Carol decided to branch off and set up her own investment company Carol H. Baldi, Inc ., which she still successfully runs. One of her first clients was the YWCA, who followed her from US Trust and whom she still serves today as a member of the World YWCA Investment Advisory Group and manager of the US portfolio. Over the years, she has helped the association invest wisely and increase the opportunities for support to women around the world. In addition, she has provided mentorship and advice to women in the movement.

Carol’s investment style has stood the test of time. She talks straight to her clients and refuses to follow the latest fads, but backs up her investment advice with sound research and tracks current macroeconomic trends. Carol invests in individual stocks and not funds. She also keeps custody at banks and not in her office. Forever the trailblazer, she has always looked beyond the US markets - first to Europe, with advisors and partners in France and Switzerland, and then to Brazil.

Travelling to Brazil was an old dream for Carol, whose grandfather was a pioneer in the moving picture industry and had explored the Amazon. She and her husband Paul, who spoke Portuguese, set off to discover new investment opportunities and tap into local expertise and research. Brazil has proved a goldmine for Carol – protecting her portfolios and those of her clients through a series of financial shocks and earning a special place in her heart.

Carol is modest about her career. She is a true inspiration and a leader, especially to young women in the YWCA, who see that “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Presently women are in a position to reach the top because of pioneer work done by people like Carol Baldi.